The modern communications era has brought about a tremendous expansion of wireline and wireless networks. Computer networks, television networks, and telephony networks are experiencing an unprecedented technological expansion, fueled by consumer demand. Wireless and mobile networking technologies have addressed related consumer demands, while providing more flexibility and immediacy of information transfer.
Current and future networking technologies continue to facilitate ease of information transfer and convenience to users. One such delivery technique that has shown promise is Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB). In this regard, DVB-T, which is related to DVB-C (cable) and DVB-S (satellite), is the terrestrial variant of the DVB standard. As is well known, DVB-T is a wireless point-to-multipoint data delivery mechanism developed for digital TV broadcasting, and is based on the MPEG-2 transport stream for the transmission of video and synchronized audio. DVB-T has the capability of efficiently transmitting large amounts of data over a broadcast channel to a high number of users at a lower cost, when compared to data transmission through mobile telecommunication networks using, e.g., 3G systems. Advantageously, DVB-T has also proven to be exceptionally robust in that it provides increased performance in geographic conditions that would normally affect other types of transmissions, such as the rapid changes of reception conditions, and hilly and mountainous terrain. On the other hand, DVB-H (handheld), which is also related to DVB-T, can provide increased performance particularly for wireless data delivery to handheld devices.
As evidenced by DVB, digital broadband data broadcast networks are known. In this regard DVB networks enjoy popularity in Europe and elsewhere for the delivery of television content as well as the delivery of other data, such as Internet Protocol (IP) data. Other examples of broadband data broadcast networks include Japanese Terrestrial Integrated Service Digital Broadcasting (ISDB-T), Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB), and Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS), and those networks provided by the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC). In many such systems, program guides have been developed to deliver services to users over the digital broadband data broadcast networks. One such program guide is a Broadcast and Multicast Service (BCMCS). BCMCS allows users to receive a variety of content (e.g. video/text) via mobile terminals in a wireless network. BCMCS may be employed, for example, in a Third Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2) environment. Other similar services are being developed for Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) and Open Mobile Alliance (OMA), for example. Users may subscribe to BCMCS service, in which a controller responds to user requests for content information over an IP network. A user selects desired content via the BCMCS program guide at their mobile terminals. The controller may then authenticate the user's request and provide the selected content if appropriately authenticated.
There has been a recent demand for services related to mobile broadcasts. In response to such demand, OMA Mobile Broadcast Services (OMA BCAST) have been developed. An OMA BCAST service guide provides functionality allowing a user to select mobile broadcast services including, for example, interactive services, location based broadcasting, and purchasing and subscribing information. It is possible to partly map XML attributes of the OMA BCAST service guide into the BCMCS program guide. However, the OMA BCAST service guide is much more complex and advanced than the BCMCS program guide and thus, functionalities of the OMA BCAST service guide cannot be stripped down to permit operation with the BCMCS service. Instead, certain functionalities of the OMA BCAST service guide are lost in instances in which the OMA BCAST service guide is delivered via BCMCS. Furthermore, the BCMCS program guide is currently the only way to offer OMA BCAST services via BCMCS. The BCMCS program guide offers a mechanism for information flow, receiver IP address, etc. for creating a link between a server and a mobile terminal via BCMCS. Accordingly, a solution is desired to permit delivery of a complete OMA BCAST service guide and OMA BCAST services over BCMCS.